Judge Rules That Stripping Isn’t Art

by molly fitzpatrick

What’s the difference between a stripper and a ballerina? About $2 million, according the state of New York. Judge Donna Gardiner has ruled that Manhattan’s Hustler Club must pay sales tax on all forms of gyrating, grinding, and jiggling because lap dances don’t constitute “artistic performance.”

“The dancing portion of the service is merely ancillary to the performer removing her clothes or creating the sexual fantasy,” Gardiner wrote in her decision. Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club now owes $2.1 million on $23.8 million in revenue generated from 2006 to 2008.

Gardiner cited a 2012 decision that found that the Albany strip club Nite Moves did not qualify for tax-exempt status. In that case, the Court of Appeals argued that adult venues — in their "intricately choreographed dance moves precisely arranged to musical compositions” (and you thought legalese and dirty talk didn’t mix!) — are equivalent to ice shows, which are subject to sales tax.